Top 63+1 Reasons I love Israel

The top 63-plus-one new reasons I love Israel, in no particular order.

1. After Lag Ba’omer campfires each year, there’s a special news report on air pollution per city.

2. We’re the People of the Book: No wonder an Israeli team led by Lilach Tzipori developed the Kindle.

3. Milk and honey: Israeli archeologists have found proof of a sophisticated bee/honey business with imported bees going on here 3,000 years ago. The US considered importing bees in the 19th century a major achievement.

4. Milk and honey: In 2010, Tnuva invested NIS 3.5 million and sent 400 representatives to supermarkets to promote its milk products for Shavuot. Tara spent NIS 3m.

11. The Israeli search engine answers.com reached 11 million answers this year. Not bad for a country where questions are answered with questions.

12. The last name of the man behind the development of Israel’s new natural gas fields, which may answer our energy needs, is Tshuva – Hebrew for “answer.”

13. McDonald’s in Israel have begun offering McFalafel.

14. The CEO of McDonald’s insists he’s not anti-religious; 30 percent of the Golden Arches branches are kosher.

15. The notions store where I bought a strip of Velcro was running a sale on ropes for hassidic gartels.

16. The taxi driver in Modi’in quizzed me to see if I knew seven names for Jerusalem. His name is Ariel, one of the seven. All I wanted was a ride to the mall.

17. Man seen on treadmill every morning at the Jerusalem Inbal Hotel is reading psalms; woman seen on stationary bike in Inbal Hotel every morning is praying Shaharit, the morning prayers

18. Supermarket mogul Rami Levy personally delivered groceries to the Fogel family sitting shiva after the mass murder in Itamar in March.

19. Late at night before Purim, at a local shop, I bumped into Kadima MK Dalia Itzik, former speaker of the Knesset, buying paper goods for her Purim feast.

20. Nine Israeli teens won a film contest about the future of the world – I’m not kidding – at the United Nations.

21. A woman I’d never met before told me the amazing story of her family’s Holocaust experience in the swimming pool locker room.

22. The chief rabbi served in the 7th Brigade of the Tank Corps.

23. Dry wine: New tour of Israel offers seven full days in Negev wineries.

24. A Jerusalem snack shop renamed itself “Blast of a Kiosk” after surviving a terror attack in 1994. When it was attacked again this year, the owner vowed to keep selling sandwiches.

25. The Jerusalem grill restaurant Zion the Small renamed itself Zion the Big because the owner was “tired of being small.”

26. The four-year-olds in my granddaughter’s nursery school played their triangles, castanets and drums to cheer on the charity-raising runners in the first Jerusalem marathon. The runners paused to give them high fives.

27. Announcement for Jerusalem marathon: “The marathon will be run on Friday. We recommend that you shop in Mahaneh Yehuda [the open-air market] on Wednesday and Thursday.”

28. Overheard at the reception desk at a five-star hotel. Elegantly dressed tourist: Can you please recommend the very best felafel in town?

29. A coin with the name of Syrian-Greek King Ahasuerus found in an Old City dig is revealed on Chanukah.

30. New Bamba snack in the shape of pyramids revealed right before Passover, when we celebrate the Exodus from Egypt.

31. At the ceremony for the new chief of General Staff of the IDF, one of the world’s most advanced armies: “Benny will be taking over from Gabi,” says Ehud. No mention of rank.

32. When Leonard Cohen sings “Who by Fire,” the audience sings along. They also know the original lyrics in Hebrew.

33. Start-Up Nation, the book about Israeli innovation, is a best-seller in Mongolia.

34. Good news or bad news? Local researchers at Hadassah find mutations on Jewish genes showing that women whose families were in Spain prior to 1492 have higher prevalence of breast cancer.

35. An Israeli electronic “dog’s nose” can outsniff those airport dogs that want your tuna sandwich in Newark. They can also find explosives.

36. Genuine Israeli dogs have been trained to leap from helicopters and apprehend terrorists.

38. Here’s a headline: Circumcision clinics for Zulu men rely on Israeli expertise.

39. Three Israeli engineers are promising competitors in the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize to land a tiny spacecraft on the moon. They’re doing it in their spare time, after work, with the help of volunteers.

40. The new head of the Shin Bet is a religious Jew whose family is from Afghanistan.

41. The former head of the Mossad was born in Siberia. He kept a photo of a Jewish man being shot by a Nazi on his wall. That was his grandfather.

42. Israel is considered a world power in stamp publishing and collecting, even at a time when much mail is electronic. Go figure.

43. Ramat Hagolan Winery, founded in 1983, won the “Wine World Cup” was declared the best wine producer in the world at the Italian “Vinitaly” competition in Verona.

45. Volunteers of the My Israel movement collect Israeli hametz and send it, with the Foreign Ministry’s help, to tsunami-hit areas in Japan.

46. Advertisement on Bezeq phone while waiting for an operator in the week before Passover: Want to send flowers, go to a restaurant, repaint the house? 144 will help you. Promotion for phone-Internet-cable line offers coupons for Passover supermarket shopping spree.

47. Eight thousand Israelis marched in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Jerusalem, more than for the first Komen march in Washington. Jews and Arabs, young and old, religious and less religious marched together.

48. Radio interview with a woman on shelled Gaza kibbutz ends with “Hag sameah,” happy holiday to all of Israel.

49. Cousins who were in both 9/11 and a Jerusalem terror attack arrived for Passover and loved the “Hag sameah” sign at Ben-Gurion Airport and printed on Coke bottles.

50. The Oscar for best short documentary goes to Strangers No More, about a Tel Aviv school with pupils from 48 countries.

51. The Oscar for best actress goes to Jerusalem-born Natalie Portman, who helped Alan Dershowitz with his book The Case for Israel and condemned the anti-Semitism of ex-Dior designer John Galliano.

52. The Immigrant Absorption Ministry and a charity called Aviv HaTorah try to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Seder, inviting 1,200 Ethiopian immigrants.

53. The Israel Opera puts on an extravaganza at Masada about an Ethiopian princess (Aida). Tel Aviv opera divas came to Jerusalem and sang on the Bridge of Strings to encourage pious Jerusalemites to spend more time at the opera.

54. Growing cell phone use is seen as the key to “Arab Spring.” Hey, we invented the cell phone.

55. In Treatment, a sometimes word-for-word translation of the Israeli program B’Tipul, completed four successful sessions, I mean seasons in the US.

56. Happiness. According to a columnist at the Asian Times who plotted birth rates and suicide rates, Israel was the world’s happiest country. According to a recent Gallup poll in which citizens are asked if they are happy, we ranked seventh, ahead of New Zealand, the US and all the Arab countries.

57. From reader Barry Nester: I was working out in the staff gym at Hadassah Hospital. Two doctors paused in their grunting and began a discussion/argument about logic in the early Talmudic period and the origins of Christianity.

58. 100 years of kibbutzim: Despite our argumentative nature, no one does communal living like us.

59. Computer guilt. Israeli scientists are producing programs that limit the amount of regret a computer program might experience.

60. No bubble burst. For more than 2 cents plain Israeli company SodaStream is selling seltzer on the stock exchange!

61. What comes first? Israeli chickens (1.9 billion eggs last year – that’s no chicken feed) are moving to roomy hi-tech coops developed by an Israeli company called Agrotop. Coop of the future includes fowl cushioning, wind turbines and photovoltaic. Guano becomes biofuels, used to supply electricity to the coop’s feeding and egg collection system.

63. Israel’s "Naked Archaeologist" international TV star is an Orthodox Jew, a father of five who is most famous for discovering what might be crucifixion nails.

And one more to grow on: 64. Eight small teeth found in an Israeli cave raise the possibility that modern humans originated in Israel and not Africa, suggests a paper recently published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Talk about getting a head start!

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Barbara Sofer is a Jerusalem writer who focuses on the wondrous stories of modern Israel. She serves as the Israel director of public relations for Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. The views in her columns are her own.

Visitor Comments: 31

(29)
cecilia from Ecuador,
January 29, 2012 3:58 PM

Israel is my life

Israel is the most beautiful land than any place else in the world. personaly I love so much The Kotel, actually, everything exists in Israel. is unique. Being in Israel is being home. Israel is my life and will love it forever

(28)
zeeshan,
September 26, 2011 10:33 AM

i am not a israeli, but i love israel too much jevoah bless israel.a wounderful experience to read sixty three points such a good information no one like israel long live israel amen.

(27)
Adina,
June 10, 2011 8:07 PM

McDonalds on Pesach

Just heard this - people talking with the owner of McDonald's in Israel and went into one of his trief stores (before Pesach) he was showing them his freezer and there were tons of boxes with Bdatz Kosher for Passover Kosher symbol. They asked the owner about it and he said that (this is in a treif McDonalds) the secular Jews want their burgers on Kosher for Passover buns on Passover!!!! ONLY IN ISRAEL

(26)
Janet Clare,
June 5, 2011 10:17 PM

Jerusalem

After food shopping at the Shuk (farmer's market) the afternoon before a holiday, I left my handbag hanging on a fence at the bus station across from it. Someone took it back to the Shuk and gave it to the owner of the first stall. He gave it to a passing off duty policeman of his acquaintance. The policeman called all the friends he found inside to find someone who knew my new phone number (I had just moved that week). He eventually got me after the holiday and I went to his home to pick it up and meet his family. : )

(25)
Anonymous,
May 15, 2011 10:23 AM

Only in Israel!

I was in a "Yesh" (a big supermaket chain) in the produce section, picking out onions and putting them into a bag. An elderly Israeli man walks by, takes an onion, gruffly announces "Zeh tov!" ("This one is good!") and puts it in my bag. I love this country!

(24)
Vlad Seder,
May 12, 2011 6:04 PM

51. The Oscar for best actress goes to Jerusalem-born Natalie Portman

It is also worth pointing out that in the film "Black Swan"
for which Natalie Portman got her Oscar for best actress
the two main female parts were played by Jewish actresses,
(Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis) and the third main female
part was played by an actress with a Jewish father (Winona
Ryder). Oh, did I mention that the film also had a Jewish
director and a couple of Jewish producers?

(23)
Eladi,
May 12, 2011 9:55 AM

I love Israel because it is Holy Land.
This land is not only center of the Earth
but also the center of universe.

(22)
Miriam,
May 11, 2011 8:21 PM

Egged

What country in the world could an inter-city early morning (or late afternoon) bus stop on the side of a highway, have the secular driver put on a hat, yell back, "I need to say Kaddish for my father, can I get a minyan?" and not only does no one complain but he gets the minyan. (True story. It was on a bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.)

(21)
Anonymous,
May 11, 2011 9:16 AM

The Lod Internattional Airport

Virtually all Jewish immigrants first touched the Israeli soil at the Lod International Airport. In the days of Joshua, Lod was a fortified city. Its motto has since become this prophesy from Jeremiah:
THY CHILDREN SHALL COME AGAIN TO THEIR OWN BORDER."

(20)
Jeff Davis,
May 10, 2011 11:20 PM

I've been studying Judaism for the past 10 years and find it never boring. I live in the USA and if I could I would serve in the IDF.

(19)
Robert Cohen,
May 10, 2011 2:44 PM

I loved it

witty, mixing the day to day and the "world-wide"

Robert Cohen,
May 10, 2011 5:11 PM

Israel stands on their own feet.

I am 82 and hope to be able to make one more glorious trip.I always remember the men who visited us to empty the blue box for buying land someday . We were part of the "masses of Jews, the Diasporah" Even pennies went into the box.Even this created Israel.rozZahn 82 yr.old Roslyn Zahn

(18)
Anonymous,
May 10, 2011 1:11 PM

I am happy for israel today because it is a day to remeber the time of his conolization and the day of his freedom.Happy Birthday israel.
from
victor o.obinna

(17)
Filipino friend,
May 10, 2011 11:29 AM

65. On our 2nd week in Jerusalem, the owner of the hotel, toured us around the back and the side streets complete with stories and a snack. all the more i saw how beautiful is israel.
66. Saturday night, after sabbath party at Ben Yehuda street.
67. Feast of Tabernacles
68. Israel Museum!!!
69. A Filipina loves Israel so much that she made the worlds biggest flag for Israel and seeing it laid side by side with the Philippine flag at Ein Geddi.

(16)
Anonymous,
May 10, 2011 10:31 AM

on line/in line

in Israel, it is possible to be next in line altho u may b sitting and waiting for ur turn and/or have gone to buy something but come back in time for ur turn as in the post office or super or bank

(15)
Eric Jacobson,
May 10, 2011 6:35 AM

Welcome to Israel...

Just to pick a reason why I love Israel: Arriving alone at Ben Gurion with a black eye, having bought my ticket 4 days in advance, no hotel booking, carrying a thin wallet with Norwegian kroner and a debit card, I (a non-Jew) was pulled aside after passport control and asked: "Why did you come to Israel?" "To find peace," I answered honestly. "You come to Israel to find peace?" she asked. I just pointed to my heart and said "Here." "Where are you going to stay?" "I don't know. I'll find something," I answered.
My hastily packed, half-full dufflebag was checked - in less than 30 seconds - and the young lady said: "Welcome to Israel. I hope you find peace."
Try that anywhere else in the world.
(I went to Jerusalem to ask GOD for help and guidance in my desperate situation. For 3 years now, He has. I hope to make it back this fall to say "thank you" to Him - even though I know He hears me here.) Thanks, Israel. Thanks also to the men at HaKotel who gave me hugs when they heard my story. A non-Jew's story...

(14)
Suzanne,
May 9, 2011 7:28 PM

63/64 reason's

Barbara,
As usual your artical is wonderful.

(13)
Miriam,
May 9, 2011 6:19 PM

caring for kangaroos worldwide

10. Israelis invented toothpaste to help kangaroos overcome fatal tooth decay. Don't forget the best part: AND PUBLISHED THE RECIPE FOR FREE!

(12)
NOUREDDINE MECHTATI,
May 9, 2011 10:37 AM

I LIKE YOU ISRAEL !...

(11)
Anonymous,
May 9, 2011 7:41 AM

I made Aliyah.......

and there is no turning back :-)

eve,
May 9, 2011 3:00 PM

I pray for conversion to Judaism and to make aliyah...congrats!

May the Holy One continue to be with Israel and may the world realize that she is truly the light of the world!

(10)
Josephine COyne,
May 9, 2011 7:16 AM

The Israelis, especially the Jewish Israelis.

Love the weather, the warmth of working with Israeli Jews, their observance of the Holy days even with those who just observe on the special days.I appreciate their making a non Jew so welcome when I nursed there some years ago. I empathise with the Arabs who have been displaced from their homes after the establishement of the STATE OF israel, but I feel that this tiny country belongs to the Jewish people. Hoping there will be finally a peaceful solution.

(9)
eva,
May 9, 2011 3:44 AM

Israel truly is a "light unto the nations", though they don't even know it. One day they will, hopefully soon.

(8)
Selma Soss,
May 8, 2011 11:56 PM

I love Israel because of the feeling of freedom out of
shes I feel there.

(7)
Beri,
May 8, 2011 6:48 PM

Here's my contribution:

I was walking in the Bet HaKarem neighborhood last week. Two elderly gentleman were walking past me from the other direction. One asks his companian: "Nu, hakol beseder?" (Is everything ok?) The other man answers: "Ken, hakol beser, chutz me ma lo beseder." (Yes, everything's ok, except for what's not ok.) I love it! Only in Israel, nachon?

(6)
miriam w cohen,
May 8, 2011 5:50 PM

Great

Now send this out to the rest of the world so they can stop harrasing THE ZIONIST ENTITY.
And especially to President Obama, who seems not to have a clue when it comes to Israel and/or the Jews.

(5)
cintia kezerle,
May 8, 2011 3:56 PM

yidich mom

64th reason: my son lives in Israel so, it is a country of and for special people!

(4)
celiz,
May 8, 2011 2:15 PM

Amazing

God Bless Israel!

(3)
Naomi,
May 8, 2011 2:10 PM

Here's another one to add to the list

The name of one of Israeli's prominent fertility specialists is Prof. Mashiach (Messiah). What better name to have for those fortunate patients who give birth as a result of his advice/treatment?

(2)
ruth housman,
May 8, 2011 12:21 PM

Sixty-Four

These were fascinating. There is something magic about sixty-four itself as a number. Eight X Eight, the symbol for infinity. Add the numbers and you get, a Perfect Ten.
I was told by a religious Jew that we are each entitled to only one sixty-fourth ego, and that seems like a small but significant number. I don't know where he got this from, but I think about this a lot, over the years, in terms of pride, and WHO gets, the REST.
I have written elsewhere on this series of articles, that for me, there is a One ness inherent in all life, that runs up and down all creation, wherever one resides, and to feel the love of place, is surely to experience all is One, and that Israel is surely then, wherever we are. As in all places.
I think about this often, because those who cannot travel, well, there is a beauty of place, and similarity of place, wherever one resides, in the deepest of senses.